Page 40 of The Stars are Dying

“Great choice,” Cassia sang behind me.

I stepped away from the combat wears. “I was just looking.”

“You would suit it. I’ve never seen you in fighting attire.”

“I have no need for it.”

“You think I didn’t pick up on how often you would ask about mine back at the Keep?” she teased, twisting around me and picking up the corset I’d been admiring. “I love a pretty dress, but it’s comfortable and empowering to wear leathers every now and then.”

“We’re heading to the Central. I should be in something more presentable.” I hadn’t failed to notice the expensive elegance of Cassia’s gown. The gold and blue radiated against her skin, and her hair was styled in elaborate braids that made her appear nothing less than royalty.

Cassia huffed her agreement and dragged me back over to the dresses, where an eager seamstress stood waiting with a measuring tape.

At least an hour passed, and I didn’t know the last time I’d laughed so much, but Cassia drew it out effortlessly as I tried on multiple gowns.

“We’re going to the Central, not to a funeral.”

I admired the black gown embellished with silver I’d picked. “I like it.”

“How about something brighter?” The seamstress came over with bundles in her arms.

“Not white,” I said a bit too quickly.

“The black is perfect,” said Cassia, snapping me back to my present surroundings. Her hand ran over my bare arm, turning curious as she examined my silver tattoos. “If we can’t find out who your parents are, perhaps there will be more answers to what these could mean.”

“They mean nothing,” I mumbled with a note of bitterness I took from Hektor.

The seamstress maneuvered around me with various dark silks to fashion removable sleeves for the cold.

“Did you ever ask him?”

“Yes,” I said in a huff of frustration. “Hektor said he couldn’t find anything about where I’d come from after he found me. He told me he’d exhausted many resources trying.”

“And you believed him?”

“How could I not?” I realized immediately my response was not for Cassia but myself. I swallowed, knowing my excuse was pitiful. “I should have fought harder for myself,” I reflected quietly.

“You’re the most resilient person I know, Astraea. Don’t discredit yourself, or his manipulation still holds you.”

I gave her a smile when I couldn’t agree. My skin itched as if Hektor’s hold remained there as something physical, and I forced down the bout of fear that no matter how far I ran it would never let me go.

Cassia said, “I think he knew more about you than he let on.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”He’s dead.They were the words I couldn’t speak.

Not wanting to talk of it, I picked out a new black-and-silver cloak and gloves.

“We’re not giving up looking for answers for you,” Cassia said carefully, heading to the payment desk. “How can you expect to grow a future if you don’t know the steps you’ve already taken?”

Memory stole me from the shop with chilling clarity. How fast I had run, how the cold air had wrapped around me, and the terror in my chest that had never fully left. “If there’s one thing I do remember, it’s that the only way to outrun a monster is to never look back.”

Her eyes spoke of agreement, and as I watched her hand over coin for everything new I owned, I didn’t know how I could ever repay such a sum. I had nothing, not even while living in the manor draped in fine wears.

“You and Calix,” I said, needing the distraction from myself. The color that flushed Cassia’s cheeks made me bite my lip to suppress a squeal. “Had you kissed before?”

Her blush rose with her wide eyes as she hooked my arm. “Yes.”

I gasped. “You didn’t tell me!”

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